Scarlet Noble
by ThirdGrid
Summary: [KK] A young woman of noble birth gave up her life of luxury in pursue of a life with a man that she barley knows by the toss of a silk ball. Please R&R Thanks!


Bet half of you, if there's even a half, won't even bother to read this.*grumble.grumble*..but anyhow, just to get this over with *ahem* here's me disclaimer: Yes me know 'bout the name creator__no own Ruroni Kenshin *sob*__only fanfiction stuff ( so no sue. blah.blah.blah.me only rule OC people..sigh.  
  
Chapter 1: The Vagabond  
  
She knew she was dreaming again. She knew the instant her mind was flooded with red lights as a giant star fell into her room from the blue-black heaven of the night. That red light, as bright as dancing flames with flicks of gold shone brightly like a pair of human eyes. Filled with warmth and tenderness, the fiery eyes gaze loving at her in such way that it touched the very core of her soul-Kamiya Kaoru, the third child of Lord Kamiya.  
  
..................................................  
  
With a gasp, Kaoru sat up in her bed with her heart pounding against her chest. While her mind was still burned by the intense gaze of the star from her dream, Kaoru desperately looked around her room for the star. But there was none and she was alone...With a sigh, Kaoru drew back the sheer fabric of the giant curtain surrounding her artfully carved bed as she made her way towards the balcony.  
  
Gazing at the stars which shined brightly in the heavens, Kaoru wondered back to her dream. What an odd dream, where did it come from? Was it just an illusion created from the dim glows of the candles lights? This dream, what does it mean?  
  
In all the years of her life, Kaoru never lacked anything. She grew up having the best that money could afford: rich food, rare jewels, expensive robes, and the best teachers to "guide" her in becoming a proper lady. In addition to her things, Kaoru never had to lift a finger for hundreds of servants waits at her beckon. However, despite all the greatness that her life had offered her, Kaoru felt her life hollow and listless having to repeat the dull schedule of her daily routine over and over again.  
  
'Could this dream be a sign for a change of fate?' Questioned Kaoru silently as she tried to decipher the meaning of her dream in depth. However as dawn approached, her train of thoughts were broken by her handmaidens who came to wake their young mistress for the following day, the celebration of Lord Kamiya's 58th birthday.  
  
Dressed in an indigo silk rob with tiny white butterflies and her hair fixed in the latest style, Kaoru was ushered her into her father's private studies by her handmaidens. Stepping into the study, Kaoru made her way towards her father who seemed to be asleep. However, as she approached him the elderly advisor immediately woke up.  
  
"Father," murmured Kaoru as she bowed with practiced ease in that bothersome robe to her father "I wish you a joyful 58th birthday" before she descended onto her knees  
  
"Rise, my daughter," replied her father after a long silence. As Kaoru rose to her feet, she signaled to her handmaidens to bring the tea which she would served her father every year on his birthday. Her sister, Kamiya Kohana, had taken over this particular tradition ever since their mother had passed away on Kaoru's 6th birthday. Now, it is Kaoru who serves their father tea after Kohana moved away when she married Lord Shishio Makoto.  
  
"I've received a letter from Kohana a few days ago," said Lord Kamiya quietly sipping his tea "she would be arriving this afternoon with her husband to attend tonight's celebration." Setting down his tea cup, he gestured to Kaoru to refill his cup while continuing "Have the guest's suit cleaned out today and make sure no one on the guest list is forgotten.." Listening patiently as her father ticked off things from the top of his head, Kaoru waited for him to make his final statement of the day, to her, before he speaks to her again at the celebration.  
  
Finally it came.  
  
"Come Kaoru, accompany me for a stroll in the back gardens." Every year it was the same on his birthday, mused Kaoru as she helped her father from his chair and towards the pebble covered path of the back gardens. Every year they would walk to the back garden, her mother's favorite place in the manor and her place of rest. When father and daughter arrived at Lady Kamiya's grave, tidied-up by the servants, Kaoru's handmaidens approached the pair and presented them with lit scented sticks hardly. Watching her father calmly stepping in front of her mother's tombstone with the scented sticks, Kaoru wondered if the death of her mother has caused any pain in her father.  
  
For as long as she could remember, her father Lord Kamiya, the advisor of the emperor never gown had any weakness. He was always the strict, and unusual, father who insisted both his daughters to excel in education and swordsmanship. It was rare in the era for women to learn how to read and write. And as for a woman to master the skill to wield a weapon.was unheard of. Still, despite the limits that were set on women, Lord Kamiya had his way with his quick wit and his influence in court. But as the years passed, Kaoru saw the powerful man that her father once was beginning to feel tired.  
  
Planting the scented sticks in the little gold bowl filled with rice that was set in front of his wife's grave, Lord Kamiya let out a ragged sigh and patted the tombstone of his dead wife. Turning around he nodded to his youngest child before he slowly strolled out of the garden. Watching him until he disappeared from sight, Kaoru stayed rooted in her spot until one of her handmaidens brought her back to the world. With a sigh, Kaoru knelt down in front of her mother's grave with her scented sticks and prayed. ...................................................  
  
"Did you enjoy dinner tonight?" asked Kaoru as the two sisters walked around the back garden in the night. They were accompanied by their handmaidens who followed them while carrying red lanterns that glowed like fireflies. "Yes, everything was perfect so there was no need to add wrinkles from all your worrying Kaoru!" teased the elderly sister. "Kohana!" groaned Kaoru who stopped in her steps "you'd never stop with your teasing do you? Not even when you are a married woman!" she accused. "Well sister dearest, it is my duty as the eldest to see that my only sibling receive her dose of teasing whenever I am present." came the reply as both women strolled on laughing  
  
"Oh, I almost forgot! How are you and little Yasuo?" inquired Kaoru "I am fine and my little boy is healthy and happy if that's what you meant." replied the elder sister with a smile. "That's good to hear, I was beginning to worry that he was going to suffocate from all attention he's been receiving from father, brother-in-law, and everyone else!" Beamed Kaoru as sisters reached a little shrine in the garden with stone benches.  
  
Waving away both her and Kohana's handmaidens away, she turned and saw her sister watching the moon and joined her. After more chatter and smiles, the sisters fell into silence and focus on the black heaven lit by the sparkling stars and the shining white moon. As the silence continued, Kaoru blurted the question that had been plaguing her mind since she first saw her sister in the courtyard that very morning.  
  
"Please tell me the truth dear sister, how are you really?" whispered Kaoru in a hushed voice that only Kohana could hear. "What truth?" murmured the older woman after an awkward silence. Without turning her head from the sky, Kaoru knew that her sister was crying silently and sighed.  
  
It was no secrete to Kaoru that her only sister's life was a living hell. Though an arranged marriage made by their father and the general Lord Shishio, Kohana, the first child of Lord Kamyia, was married at the age of fifteen to Lord Shishio's only son Shishio Makoto, the 1st Captain of the emperor's personal guards. In the public eye, Shishio Makoto was a perfect gentleman who was praised by everyone in the imperial court. As for Kohana, she was known as one of the most refined ladies of the court with her gentle smiles and sincere nature. Therefore, everyone believed that this marriage was the match made in heaven. And they were wrong. It wasn't until Kohana's marriage that the Kamiya family discovered the true nature of Shishio Makoto. Beneath the good looks and charming manners, Shishio Makoto was a brutal and ruthless man who would use any method in gaining what he desires. Other than that, he has a mistress by the name of Yumi who openly taunts Kohana that she is the favorite of Makoto. Many times when the unlikely couple visits the house of Kamiya, Kaoru often found her eldest sibling spending her time beside the garden well with a pained look in her once sunny eyes. There were even times when she caught Kohana trying to drown herself in the well. However, now that Yasuo is born, Kohana was able to continue her will to live and she is determined to raise her son to a become man of morals, unlike his father. Kaoru was able to see the change in Kohana as her sister slowly regains her sanity.  
  
"Ahhhh...hehe, look at us. weeping and grudging like angry women on this special night" Said Kohana as she carefully wiped away her tears then turned to Kaoru. "Come my dear sister, let us enjoys the moonlight of this night with mother..I have not seen her for quite some time." Gently tugging on her little sister's hand the sisters left the shrine.  
  
"Shall I sent my handmaidens to fetch some scented sticks and a little snack?"  
  
"If you want Kaoru, I don't mind"  
  
.................................................  
  
"Lady Kaoru, it's getting late" reminded a handmaiden who still managed to stay awake when her fellow comrades were either drooping or snoring openly on the grass under the nightly sky of the back gardens. Their young mistress was still watching the moon though it was well past midnight.  
  
"Oh..thank you Sawa." Mumble Kaoru while lapsing back to her thoughts. Just a month after her father's birthday celebration, the olden advisor planned to have Kaoru married before she turned 15. The memory of her father informing her of his decision was still fresh on her mind.  
  
It was April, a month after her father's birthday when she was summoned to her father's study one raining afternoon after her kendo practice. She was surprised at her father's request since they seldom see each other, hardly ate dinner together, and only conversed when guests are expected.  
  
"....My daughter, it has come to my attention that you have passed the age of thirteen." begun Lord Kamiya as Kaoru stood before him listening carefully while in reality she was tuning him out after the realizing what her father's intentions were. As her father droned on, Kaoru caught bits and pieces of her father's talk as her mind wandered about. Finally, when she decided her father was about to end his chat, she tuned back to the world just in time to hear her father say  
  
"....therefore, I will arrange for you to chose your future husband by the toss of a silk ball." Upon hearing these words, Kaoru paled considerably while her father calmly sipped his tea. When Kaoru managed to compose herself, she silently bowed to her father and left the study.  
  
'Is this my fate?' though Kaoru as she gazed at the white moon shining its soft fair light on the girl. 'Am I doomed to a life that is already paved for me? Knowing father, he'll probably have Kohana arrange this entire event with Shishio sticking a few of his friends in the crowd.' Sighing Kaoru wondered back to her dream of the red star and sent a silent prayer to the gods pleading for a change of fate in her life when her handmaidens began shouting in alarm..  
  
"Wake up! Fire!" "To the wells quick!" "The back garden is on fire!"  
  
Looking towards the direction which her handmaidens had pointed to, Kaoru saw a ball of fire burning brightly on top of the garden walls. But there was something about the fire that didn't seem right. Calmly, she moved towards the fire. As she moved closer, the brightness of the red faded away until all that was left of the fire was a man curled up in a ball on the wall. Awaken by the alarmed cries of Kaoru's handmaidens, the man stirred and woke up. "Why it's a vagabond!" said a handmaiden when she saw his shabby attire. Before the man could stand he was immediately pelted with questions and scorn by the handmaidens "Are you so blind that you cannot see that this is the advisor's garden?!" shouted one" How dare you barge in and disturb our lady!" fumed another while others began to screech something incoherent in Kaoru's opinion from all the constant scolding.  
  
She could not see the man's face for he kept it hidden in the shadows of the night. It wasn't until someone made angry jabs at her while the phrases "my lady" and "you moron" spewed from their lips that the man looked towards her direction. Upon looking at the vagabond face to face, Kaoru found herself drawn into his eyes. Those clear violet eyes that shinned with such warmth like the star from her dream...  
  
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Okay now that's done me hope ye enjoy this sudden-insperation-typed-at-3- something-am-in-the-morning-fanfic while me go enjoy some nice coffee*chugs down entire bottle of Starbucks's coffee* Wwweeeeeeeeee!!!!!!! The Power of coffee! *SMILES* aahhh..... 


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